


The Truth

by Jen425



Series: For The Republic [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker: Infinite Pain, Anakin has a crappy life, Anakin is not in a good place right now, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Obi-Wan is trying, This is probably a fix-it, Why do I do this to him?, but right now it's just making Anakin's life worse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 04:43:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13046736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jen425/pseuds/Jen425
Summary: When Anakin is finally found, he's nothing like the dashing Jedi Knight that Obi-Wan was proud to call his best friend. It's been two months, of course, but this goes above and beyond what he had expected.It’s worse than Obi-Wan had dreamed in his darkest nightmares...





	The Truth

**Author's Note:**

> One night I decided that I wanted to write something where Anakin remembers Mortis, recognizes Palpatine, and reorganizes the Jedi with the help of his family.
> 
> At two in the morning, Anakin Skywalker was still contemplating suicide.
> 
> And we were still nowhere near the fix-it.

When Anakin is finally found, he's nothing like the dashing Jedi Knight that Obi-Wan was proud to call his best friend. It's been two months, of course, but this goes above and beyond what he had expected.

It’s worse than Obi-Wan had dreamed in his darkest nightmares.  
  
Anakin's eyes stare out at him, glazed and unseeing as he hangs by his one hand and a painful-looking metal rod forcibly connected to the stub of his right arm. Burns cover a good part of the left side of his naked body (and that in and of itself leads to terrifying possibilities), and painful slices cover everywhere else. At his neck lies a shock collar, a Force-nulling shock collar.  
  
His mind isn't much better. He's cut off from the Force, but his shields are so shot that Obi-Wan can see all the pain Anakin had gone through... And a hidden something that he guards even in this state.  
  
Gently, very gently, Obi-Wan reaches into Anakin's mind.  
  
_Anakin?_  
  
A jolt of surprise, and a slight clearing of Anakin's eyes.  
  
_Master... I'm so sorry. I fail you, I-_  
  
Obi-Wan tries to send calming waves to Anakin even as anger fills him.  
  
_It's alright, Anakin. I'm here to get you out. May I help get you down from there?_  
  
Anakin's reply is the most painful thing that Obi-Wan would ever hear.

 _The Galaxy would be better off without me in it._  
  
It's not a yes, but Obi-wan is honestly too terrified of what he just heard to care, and Obi-Wan envelopes Anakin's mind and body with his own as he unlatches the ties holding Anakin up and the collar around his neck. Anakin barely even reacts as he's lowered to the ground, just lets himself collapse into Obi-Wan's arms.  
  
He doesn't even react as Obi-Wan's hands brush a very-recent wound on his hip. Obi-Wan is beyond grateful that he kept Ahsoka away from this. With tears in his eyes, Obi-Wan puts a hand to Anakin's forehead.  
  
" _Sleep._ "  
  
  
  
It's two days of surgery and a week in a bacta tank later that Obi-Wan talks to Anakin again. The wonders of modern medicine have Anakin already sitting up with ease, staring out the window.  
  
"You should have let me die."  
  
Obi-Wan sighed.  
  
"Anakin..."  
  
"I kill you."  
  
What?  
  
"I turn to the Dark Side and I kill every being in this temple. I kill Padme. I kill Ahsoka. I stand by as a planet is destroyed. I torture my daughter and mutilate my son. This," and here, Anakin turns around, gesturing to the burn scars littering his side, "Would have been my entire body, but for my cut off arms and legs that you caused, and life in that suit would still never equal what I had done. You should have let me die."

This is a... terrifying possibility, Obi-Wan thinks. It's also, of course, impossible. Anakin would never-

"Turn to the Dark Side if I thought it would protect the people I care about? You know as well as I do the _un-Jedi-like_ length I would go for you, or Ahsoka, or Padme."

He does. He really does.

He also knows that he would do the same, and that this was not the flaw most in the Order believe it to be. Anakin would never hurt them if he knew he was doing so.  
  
"I do. I also know that you will not choose this path, now that you know where it leads."  
  
Anakin looked away once more.  
  
"I told the Son that I would never turn to the Dark Side willingly moments before I did... I don't know."  
  
Oh... Obi-Wan moved and sat down next to Anakin.  
  
"Is this what you saw there?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It's not going to happen."  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I won't let it. Your my brother, Anakin. I love you."  
  
At this, Anakin turned to him with a sad smile.  
  
"I know."  
  
Obi-Wan returned the smile, before surprising them both and pulling Anakin into a tight hug. He felt Anakin tense for a moment, then relax, putting his own arm around Obi-Wan. There's a slight hitch in his breath that indicates Anakin's tears, a slight shakiness to his body, but it's the only hint to be felt.  
  
A little known fact about Anakin Skywalker is that he almost never cries, but, when he does, he sobs. These silent tears are so much worse.  
  
Still, he'll be there for his Padawan, no matter how long it takes for Anakin to heal.

**Author's Note:**

> I have two very different ways this could have come about.
> 
> The first way is a Shadow Warriors AU. Padme uses her brain, Dooku has the bright idea of ruining and/or killing the "competition". There was ABSOLUTELY a big fight between Obi-Wan and Padme where all secrets were revealed, and the Council, in an act of pure stupidity, leaves Ahsoka in sole command of the 501st. (They're running out of Jedi, okay?) Anakin, meanwhile, spends the next two months being tortured in every way possible as Dooku rips his mind to shreds trying to break every bit of the web Palpatine's woven in Anakin's mind, vacating the premises once he's done and sending an anonymous tip to the Jedi. Following this fic right here, Anakin and Padme have a Talk, and it involves much shouting, crying, and apologies. Then Anakin finds out that they left his FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Padawan in charge of the 501st. He's glad his men and his Padawan all got to stay together, but this was still really. Kriffing. Stupid. Ahsoka might hug him and Anakin might not let go for about five hours.
> 
> And then, because Star Wars is pain, it's just about time for the Rako Hardeen arc. of course, Obi-Wan made a promise to be there for Anakin, so he knows, but nobody else does. It's a general mess and Anakin is just getting back on his feet. Also, Anakin still isn't told until after the funeral, so... nice going Obi-Wan. Luckily, it's in between this and the next disaster that Anakin realizes who Sidious is. (Also, good news! General Grievous has been executed!) Secrets are revealed, Sidious is defeated, and, as was the original goal of this fic, Anakin, Ahsoka, Padme, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and even DOOKU team up and fix the Jedi and the Republic.
> 
> Alternatively, this was also, theoretically, Maul's doing in place of his Mandalore takeover. Kenobi's best friend and former student who also just so happens to be close to his own former Master? He can kill two birds with one stone with this Jedi. The physical torture would be worse here with just the one mental assault that pretty much shattered Anakin's mind and destroyed his bonds with literally everyone except Obi-Wan, who sounds kind of insane as he desperately searches for his former Padawan.
> 
> Eventually, it's time for Maul's OTHER plan, and he sends a message to his former Master. Palpatine passes this off as an intercepted transmission, somehow, and Obi-Wan goes and rescues Anakin. Maul told Anakin exactly who Sidious was, here, and Anakin and Obi-Wan work to get evidence. Also, The Wrong Jedi had already happened by the time Anakin was rescued. The 501st rescued Ahsoka because they would not loose both the General AND the Commander.
> 
> Palpatine isn't killed by a Jedi. A clone shoots him in the face.
> 
> I'm never going to write these, but I wish that I had the inspiration to. Like many of my works before this that haven't been posted for this very reason, I WANTED TO WRITE A FIX-IT
> 
> find me on tumblr [@flaim-ita](https://flaim-ita.tumblr.com/)
> 
> *Edit 12/23/17: I'm writing the first option!*


End file.
